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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, August 2005, p. 3468-3473, Vol. 49, No. 8
0066-4804/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.49.8.3468-3473.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Ni Cheng,1,
Lei Dong,1
Mutsumi Muramatsu,1
Shudong Xiao,3
Ming-Wei Wang,2,4* and
De-Xu Zhu1*
State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, People's Republic of China,1 The National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China,2 Laboratory of Gastroenterology, Ministry of Public Health, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai 200001, People's Republic of China,3 Shanghai East Best Biopharmaceutical Enterprises Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200233, People's Republic of China4
Received 3 July 2004/ Returned for modification 5 September 2004/ Accepted 5 May 2005
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Treatment regimens for H. pylori infection have been evolving since the early 1990s, when monotherapy was first recommended. Antimicrobial therapy for this infection is a complex issue, and the following drugs are currently used in combination regimens: proton-pump inhibitors and/or bismuth, metronidazole, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin (14). Tetracycline is used in the rescue therapy (8). Although optimal first-line treatment is associated with high cure rates, the rising prevalence of resistance to the antibiotic component of current eradication regimens increasingly threatens to compromise the efficacy of these regimens. Strains resistant to metronidazole (9) and clarithromycin (18) have been well documented, while resistance to amoxicillin (23) and tetracycline was mainly reported in Asia (11). Therapeutic regimens directed against H. pylori infection will continue to evolve. What is required is a simpler and more efficacious strategy for the treatment of H. pylori infection. New antibiotics with the following characteristics have been sought among many synthetic compounds and secondary metabolites of microorganisms: (i) high specificity for H. pylori; (ii) stability in 0.1 N HCl; and (iii) lower frequency of natural resistance. Following vigorous screening of various compound libraries, NE-2001, a small synthetic molecule with the novel structure 4-(4-methylbenzyl)-4'-[guanidinomethylbenzoyloxy]biphenyl-4-carboxylate hydrochloride (Fig. 1), was discovered to demonstrate a specific inhibitory effect on the growth of H. pylori in vitro (24). It was proposed that the mechanism of action by which NE-2001 exerts its anti-H. pylori activity may relate to suppression of bacterial DNA synthesis (4). In the present study, we investigated the effects of NE-2001 on the viability, urease activity, and morphology of H. pylori in vitro, in conjunction with resistance development following repeated exposure and its ability to inhibit the growth of metronidazole- and clarithromycin-resistant strains of the bacterium.
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FIG. 1. Chemical structure of NE-2001.
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Antibacterial agents. NE-2001 was prepared using the method described previously (24). Amoxicillin, metronidazole, and furazolidone were commercially available (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO). Clarithromycin was obtained from Livzon Pharmaceutical Group Inc. (Zhuhai, Guangdong, China). Amoxicillin and furazolidone were dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), metronidazole in water, and clarithromycin in acetone. NE-2001 was dissolved in a 2-hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin (Sigma) solution (molar ratio = 1:10; prepared at 50°C for 30 min). These stock solutions were serially diluted in sterile water to give final concentrations on the day of use.
Susceptibility testing. The MICs for H. pylori were determined by an agar dilution method (16) with minor modification. Briefly, Mueller-Hinton agar (Oxoid, Basingstoke, U.K.) plates (10 ml/each) were prepared containing 7% lysed horse blood (Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, China) and twofold serial dilutions of the test compounds. They were inoculated with 5 µl of each bacterial suspension (107 CFU/ml) by use of a multipoint inoculator (Sakuma, Tokyo, Japan) and incubated at 37°C for 3 days in an incubator in a microaerobic atmosphere consisting of 5% O2, 10% CO2, and 85% N2 with 98% humidity (Napco Co., Winchester, VA). An antibiotics-free plate and plates with corresponding dilutions of DMSO or 2-hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin were used as negative controls to ensure bacteria viability and no contaminants in the inoculums. The MICs for other common bacteria were also determined by the agar dilution method using Mueller-Hinton agar inoculated with respective bacteria suspensions.
Bactericidal activity. Portions of Brucella broth with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) (10 ml) and 0.1% ß-cyclodextrin (Sigma) containing various concentrations of NE-2001 were inoculated with the bacteria from an overnight culture to yield an initial cell concentration of approximately 106 CFU/ml. The cultures were shaken at 37°C in a microaerobic atmosphere, and 100 µl were removed at various time points (0, 3,6, 24, and 48 h). Viable bacteria were counted following 10-fold serial dilutions in Brucella broth with 10% FBS, and each strain was inoculated in triplicate onto Columbia agar (Difco Co., Sparks, MD) supplemented with 8% defibrinated sheep blood. Colonies were counted after 3 days of incubation in a microaerobic atmosphere. Bactericidal activities of NE-2001 under various pH conditions were also measured by altering the medium pH levels.
Assay for resistance development. Two clinical isolates of H. pylori, adjusted to a cell density of approximately 106 CFU/ml in Brucella broth supplemented with 10% FBS, were exposed to serial twofold dilutions of NE-2001 and metronidazole, respectively. Following incubation at 37°C for 24 h, the MICs were recorded. The culture that attained turbidity comparable to that of the untreated culture in the presence of the highest level of the test agents was further exposed to increasing concentrations of NE-2001 or metronidazole. These procedures were repeated for up to 10 cycles, and fluctuations in MICs during the course of continued exposure were determined.
Urease activity measurement. Three types of urease were used. Crude urease from H. pylori (ATCC43504) was prepared from the whole cell according to the method described by Dunn and colleagues (5) with modifications. Briefly, bacterial cells, cultured overnight in Brucella broth supplemented with 10% FBS, were collected and suspended to reach a concentration of 107 cells/ml. The cell suspension was vortex mixed for 10 min and centrifuged at 1,500 x g for 15 min at 4°C to extract urease. The supernatant was frozen and stored at 80°C until use. The stock solution was diluted with purified water after thawing, and 25-µl volumes containing 0.5 to 1.0 µg of protein were incubated with different concentrations of the test compounds for 60 min at 37°C. This was followed by the addition of 100 µl phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) buffer (pH 6.8) containing 500 mM urea, 0.02% phenol red, and 0.1 mM dithiothreitol in each sample. The ureases from Bacillus pasteurii and jack beans were purchased from Sigma and used as controls. Color development was monitored at 560 nm (25°C) during the 60-min incubation period.
Transmission electron microscopy. H. pylori cells, after exposure to NE-2001 at 0, 2, 4, and 8 µg/ml for 6 h at 37°C under microaerobic conditions, were collected by centrifugation and treated with Karnovsky's fixative at 4°C for 24 h. The samples were then rinsed with 0.1 M PBS and stained with 1% osmium tetroxide in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer (pH 7.4) at room temperature for 2 h. Following a wash with 0.1 M PBS, they were dehydrated for multiple times (15 min each) in escalating concentrations of ethanol (70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, and 100% [vol/vol]) and embedded in a Quetol mixture. Sections were cut with a diamond knife on a Porter-Blum MT6000 ultra microtone (RMC, Tucson, AZ) and stained with both 1% uranyl acetate and lead citrate. The sections were examined with a transmission electron microscope (Hitachi H-600; Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan) at an accelerating voltage of 75 kV.
Reversal of drug resistance by NE-2001. A total of 27 of the above-described clinical isolates (including two from the same patient) were cultured on Columbia agar (Difco) supplemented with 7% lysed horse blood and then submitted to metronidazole and clarithromycin susceptibility testing, respectively, using the above-described agar dilution method. Eight strains resistant to metronidazole (breakpoint MIC, >8 µg/ml) (23) and five strains resistant to both metronidazole and clarithromycin (breakpoint MIC, >2 µg/ml) (21) were identified thereafter (from 12 patients). They were subcultured once to ascertain reliable growth before measurement of MICs for NE-2001.
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TABLE 1. Antibacterial activities of NE-2001, amoxicillin, clarithromycin, metronidazole, and furazolidone against 24 clinical isolates of H. pylori
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FIG. 2. Bactericidal effects of NE-2001 on H. pylori ATCC43504 (MIC = 4 µg/ml). NE-2001 concentrations used were 0 (), 0.8 µg/ml ( ), 1.6 µg/ml ( ), 3.2 µg/ml ( ), 6.4 µg/ml ( ), and 12.8 µg/ml ( ).
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FIG. 3. Bactericidal effects of NE-2001 on H. pylori ATCC43504 (MIC = 4 µg/ml) at pH 7 (A), 6 (B), 5 (C), and 3 plus 10 mM urea (D). NE-2001 concentrations used were 0 (), 0.8 µg/ml ( ), 1.6 µg/ml ( ), 3.2 µg/ml ( ), 6.4 µg/ml ( ), and 12.8 µg/ml ( ).
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FIG. 4. Development of resistance to NE-2001() and metronidazole ( ) in H. pylori strains HP003 (A) and HP032 (B).
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TABLE 2. Inhibitory effects of NE-2001 and acetohydroxamic acid on various ureases
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FIG. 5. Transmission electron micrographs of H. pylori exposed to NE-2001. H. pylori ATCC43504 cells were treated with NE-2001 for 6 h at 0 µg/ml (A), 2 µg/ml (B), 4 µg/ml (C), and 8 µg/ml (D).
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TABLE 3. Effect of NE-2001 on drug-resistant strains of H. pylori
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There have been discrepancies between in vitro bioactivities and clinical efficacies of several antibacterial agents in the clearance of H. pylori from the stomach (22). In the Mongolian gerbil model, eradication efficacy was significantly improved by addition of a proton-pump inhibitor (10) to clarithromycin or by use of mucoadhesive microspheres containing amoxicillin (15). Such augmentation was achieved either through neutralization of the low pH environment or extension of exposure time to the treatment regimen. Obviously, NE-2001 may overcome this deficiency, as it is stable and remains efficacious under acidic conditions.
The increasing prevalence of H. pylori strains resistant to some of the most commonly used antibacterial agents is the major cause of failure to eradicate the infection (8). Some investigators have suggested that secondary resistance to metronidazole and clarithromycin develops very rapidly and thereby limits the usefulness of a number of potentially effective agents (2). It was reported previously that the resistance rates of H. pylori to metronidazole and clarithromycin found in randomly collected clinical isolates in Shanghai were 49.7% and 7.3%, respectively (13). In addition to confirmation of the above-described observations, we have demonstrated in this study that the clinical strains resistant to metronidazole and clarithromycin were all susceptible to NE-2001 treatment in vitro. It is worth noting that unlike metronidazole, repeated exposure of H. pylori to NE-2001 in vitro did not lead to selection of any resistant mutants. The data, taken together, point to the potential of developing NE-2001 as a novel candidate agent against H. pylori with high sensitivity to certain drug-resistant strains of the bacterium and low frequency of natural resistance.
It has been shown that urease is an important virulence factor of H. pylori for the development of gastric infection and induction of damages to the gastric mucosa (5). However, NE-2001 did not display any inhibitory effect on H. pylori urease activity compared to acetohydroxamic acid, a widely used urease inhibitor. This result indicates that the inhibitory action of NE-2001 on the growth of H. pylori is independent of urease. Our previous study demonstrated that the effect of NE-2001 is mediated through an inhibition of the bacterial DNA replication mechanism (4), but the exact molecular target for NE-2001 remains to be investigated.
The marked morphological changes of H. pylori cells following exposure to NE-2001 include swelling of the bacilliforms, development of numerous blebs on cell surface, and emergence of vacuole-like structures in the cytoplasm. These observations suggest that the target whereby NE-2001 exerts its biological effect may be located on the cell surface that functions as a permeability barrier. Conceivably, the bactericidal mechanism of NE-2001 against H. pylori may be the result of its perturbation of the permeability barrier within cell membranes. Nevertheless, other mechanisms of action could not be ruled out, including interruption of H. pylori colonization (17).
In conclusion, the new chemical entity, NE-2001, is highly selective in inhibiting the growth of H. pylori with moderate concentrations at neutral pH and under acidic conditions. This in vitro effect of NE-2001 may have the potential when given orally to decrease the viability of H. pylori in the stomach or gastric mucus, thereby relieving pathological damages caused by the bacterium. Further studies will be directed towards the exploration of NE-2001 to become a new and locally acting therapeutic agent to treat H. pylori infection.
We are indebted to Weiwen Xu for technical assistance, Qing Zheng for patient specimen and data collection, and Dale E. Mais for valuable comments and critical review of the manuscript.
G.D. and N.C. contributed equally to the work. ![]()
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